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| Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman looks on during a signing ceremony at the Maximos Mansion, in Athens, Greece, July 26, 2022. REUTERS/Louiza Vradi |
Saudi Arabia is reportedly in advanced talks with the United States over a new defense agreement, with both sides hoping to finalize the deal when Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits Washington next month, according to a Financial Times report.
Sources familiar with the discussions told the newspaper that the agreement could be signed during the Crown Prince’s visit, though details are still being worked out. A senior Trump administration official confirmed there were “talks about signing something when the crown prince comes, but the details are in flux.”
The proposed deal is said to mirror a recent U.S.–Qatar defense pact, under which Washington pledged to treat any attack on Qatar as a threat to the United States itself. That agreement came shortly after Israel’s failed attempt to target Hamas leaders in Doha last month.
When contacted by the Financial Times, the U.S. State Department described its defense cooperation with Saudi Arabia as a “strong bedrock of our regional strategy,” but declined to share specifics about the new deal.
Neither the White House, the State Department, nor the Saudi government responded to Reuters’ request for comment on the report.
Riyadh has long pushed for stronger U.S. security guarantees—similar to the Qatar agreement—as part of Washington’s broader push to normalize ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. Just last month, Saudi Arabia signed a mutual defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan, further strengthening its regional alliances.
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